As negotiations on a new labor contract remain deadlocked airline mechanics who work for Icelandair went on strike on Sunday morning at 6:00. The airline has canceled nearly all flights to North America. Only flights to Orlando and JFK airport in New York went ahead. Several Icelandair flights to Europe have also been canceled or delayed. Some 20 flights were canceled yesterday, Sunday while a total of 35 flights have been canceled today due to the strike.
The strike does NOT affect WOW air or any other airline flying to Keflavík Airport.
Read more: Strike at Icelandair looming: Airline mechanics demand a 20% wage hike
Large groups of travellers were left stranded in Keflavík yesterday after the strike began. Many passengers have complained that the airline has not provided sufficient information. The airline has been swamped with complaints and questions. According to the local news site Vísir the phone system of Icelandair collapsed from the unusual load of calls. Customers who got through had to wait as much as 3 hours before being connected to a service representative.
Icelandair has 30 planes in its fleet. The planes undergo a thorough check after each flight. In case the check reveals any issues which need to be looked at by a mechanic the airline grounds the plane in question until the airline's mechanics return to work.
No solution in sight – passengers being assisted
There is no solution in sight in the conflict. A meeting between the union and Business Iceland, which handles wage negotiations for most Icelandic employers, which began yesterday afternoon at 17:00 ended at 4:00 in the morning without any agreement. The CEO of Icelandair Group told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that he was not optimistic the conflict could be solved soon.
He said that the company is working hard to minimize the disruption to the travel plans of passengers who have booked flights with the airline. On average some 10,000 passengers have booked flights with Icelandair in the next several days. A spokesman for the union told Morgnublaðið that while the union had originally named a 20% wage hike as their demand the union had in recent days moderated its demands. The CEO of Business Iceland has described the demands of the mechanics as unrealistic.
No new meeting has been called in the dispute.
As negotiations on a new labor contract remain deadlocked airline mechanics who work for Icelandair went on strike on Sunday morning at 6:00. The airline has canceled nearly all flights to North America. Only flights to Orlando and JFK airport in New York went ahead. Several Icelandair flights to Europe have also been canceled or delayed. Some 20 flights were canceled yesterday, Sunday while a total of 35 flights have been canceled today due to the strike.
The strike does NOT affect WOW air or any other airline flying to Keflavík Airport.
Read more: Strike at Icelandair looming: Airline mechanics demand a 20% wage hike
Large groups of travellers were left stranded in Keflavík yesterday after the strike began. Many passengers have complained that the airline has not provided sufficient information. The airline has been swamped with complaints and questions. According to the local news site Vísir the phone system of Icelandair collapsed from the unusual load of calls. Customers who got through had to wait as much as 3 hours before being connected to a service representative.
Icelandair has 30 planes in its fleet. The planes undergo a thorough check after each flight. In case the check reveals any issues which need to be looked at by a mechanic the airline grounds the plane in question until the airline's mechanics return to work.
No solution in sight – passengers being assisted
There is no solution in sight in the conflict. A meeting between the union and Business Iceland, which handles wage negotiations for most Icelandic employers, which began yesterday afternoon at 17:00 ended at 4:00 in the morning without any agreement. The CEO of Icelandair Group told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that he was not optimistic the conflict could be solved soon.
He said that the company is working hard to minimize the disruption to the travel plans of passengers who have booked flights with the airline. On average some 10,000 passengers have booked flights with Icelandair in the next several days. A spokesman for the union told Morgnublaðið that while the union had originally named a 20% wage hike as their demand the union had in recent days moderated its demands. The CEO of Business Iceland has described the demands of the mechanics as unrealistic.
No new meeting has been called in the dispute.
